A Boat Named Jenny
by SherbetKitty
Summary: JD spoilers. Gibbs and the team have a talk. First posted NCIS fic! Past mentions of Jibbs. ONESHOT.


A/N: My first posted NCIS fic! YAY! Enjoy! ;) I've had this written for aaaages (even before we got the final in Aus =.=) but yeah. Read and review =)

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A Boat Named Jenny

Tony DiNozzo, Ziva David, Abby Sciuto and Tim McGee stumbled through the door, almost tripping over each other as they did.

"Ow, Tony! That was my foot!"

"Well gee, Zee-vah! Maybe if you could open a door properly like a normal person, you wouldn't be howling in pain like that!"

"Shh, Tony! He'll hear us!" Abby hissed.

Tony fell silent, remembering where they were and why. They were at Jethro Gibbs's house. They were checking up on him. They were extremely worried because he had been silent and withdrawn lately. Everyone knew it had something to do with Jenny Shepard's death. Jenny had died a few days ago, murdered. The team had taken it pretty hard, but Jethro had taken it harder, they thought.

Jethro and Jenny had history. They were once lovers, they worked together and until recently, Jenny was their boss. They were close friends, and although Jethro had expressed no emotion on Jenny's death, they knew what he was thinking.

"Where is he?" McGee asked, looking around.

"And doesn't he ever lock his door?" Ziva added.

"Nope," Abby said.

Tony hesitated. "J…" He tried again, "Jenny told me he liked to stay in his basement. Building his boats. I already knew that though. But she liked to say it."

Abby's eyes teared up at the mention of Jenny's name. Ziva looked down and McGee hugged Abby.

"C'mon," Tony muttered, an uncomfortable look on his face.

Jethro Gibbs held his bottle of bourbon and a photo frame as he went down to the basement. Opening the bottle, he took a long drink and looked at the picture in his hand. A smiling Jenny Shepard stared back up at him. He remembered that the picture was taken in Paris. Back when they were happy. Back when they were partners. Back when Jenny was alive.

Jethro sighed and set the picture down on his bench top. Grabbing a hammer, he got to work on the beginnings of his next boat. Glancing at the picture of Jenny only pushed him to work harder, forcing him to focus as he tried not to think about Jenny not being there.

He brushed the sweat off his forehead and took another drink. Pausing only to look at Jenny's picture, he got back to work. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Images of Jenny kept coming into his head. He let out a frustrated sigh and drank once more. He didn't even notice when four people entered his house.

"Down here," Tony whispered.

They followed Tony, the door not making a sound as he pushed it open. Tony looked back and Abby nodded at him, giving him a boost of courage. They saw Jethro sanding wood and they saw what looked to be the starting of a new boat. Abby flinched when she stepped on the first step and it creaked. Jethro didn't look up.

Miraculously, the team managed to get all the way down to the basement without Jethro noticing. Or so they thought.

"What are you doing here?" Jethro asked without turning around.

"We came to check up on you," Abby said.

McGee looked around awkwardly. "Er, are you okay, Boss?"

Jethro didn't answer immediately; he didn't get a chance to.

"Of course you're not okay," Abby said quickly. "How could anyone be okay?"

Jethro turned and faced them, a pained expression on his face. "I've been better."

Abby gave him a sad look. Tony couldn't meet his eyes. Ziva stared ahead, her eyes suspiciously shiny. McGee said nothing, but gave a small sniffle.

Tony stepped forward. "Boss, I'm sorr-"

"S'not your fault, Tony," Jethro said softly. "Wasn't anyone's."

"Gibbs-" Ziva began. "She was an incredible person."

"_Is_ an incredible person," Tony muttered, Ziva didn't look at him.

"Yes," she said. "And we will remember her always."

Tony nodded solemnly. Jethro studied the four people before him. They had all grown so much, they were practically a family. But they had just lost a friend, a sister and a mother. He was impressed with the way they stuck together as a team and family. He nodded, unable to find the right words.

"When do you leave?" he asked instead, nodding at Ziva.

"In a few hours," Ziva paused. "Thank you, Gibbs. For having me on your team."

Jethro turned away. "It was Jen's idea. She put you on the team. I didn't agree with her but she said she wanted you to learn from the best, like she did." He sighed. "I never thanked her for it. For you."

Tony looked down. "I blamed her for my relationship with Jeanne. It wasn't her fault. I didn't get to say sorry."

"There are a lot of things we didn't get to say," Abby said. "Like how pretty her eyes were and how beautiful her smile was."

"Like how much I admired her for being the first female director of a federal agency," McGee added.

"How much I valued her as a friend," Ziva said quietly.

"How good she smelled," Tony said, shrugging when they all turned to look at him, Jethro included.

Jethro looked behind Tony, at the chair Jenny once occupied on her first day as Director. "And how much I liked her hair when it was longer."

There was another pause.

Ziva broke the silence. "We should go," she said but didn't move. "Gibbs," she continued. "Thank you again." Ziva stepped forward and held her hand out. She was only slightly surprised when Jethro instead grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug.

"Goodbye Ziva," he whispered. Ziva blinked back tears.

"Goodbye Jethro."

Jethro turned to McGee. "See you around, Elf lord," he said, hugging him too.

"Thank you, Boss," McGee replied.

Jethro looked at Tony. "DiNozzo."

Tony gave him a small smile. "Boss." Jethro embraced him, like a father to his son. Tony held on tightly, as though letting go would mean death.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again. Tony had promised himself he would be strong, but couldn't keep his promise. Everywhere he looked, he saw Jenny's lifeless body. He saw the blood. And he blamed himself.

"Tony?" Jethro said.

"Yes, boss?"

SLAP.

"Thanks, boss."

Jethro smiled at Tony. He held out his arms, stumbling backwards when Abby lunged at him. "You'll come visit me?" she asked.

"Of course."

"She really loved you, you know that?" Abby said to him.

Jethro tried to pull away but Abby wouldn't let go. "She told me once, it slipped out. I just wanted you to know."

He nodded, looking behind them at the stairs where Jenny had walked down so many times before. He remembered when she had come down in a green dress that took his breath away.

"_Hubba hubba. Dinner at the White House?"_

"_A date, actually."_

"_Must be an important guy for you to get all decked out."_

"_I'd prefer it if you just told me you liked my dress."_

"_I haven't decided yet."_

The truth was he _had_ decided. He loved the dress. He loved her. "I loved her too," he said softly and Abby smiled sadly. He looked back at his team. His family.

"Thanks Boss, for everything," McGee said.

Jethro nodded at them all. His team. "Semper Fi," he said, grinning slightly. Tony, Ziva, Abby and McGee laughed.

"Semper Fi," they echoed.

Abby turned and began to walk back up the stairs when Tony spoke again. "Boss?"

"Yeah, Tony?"

"What are you gonna name 'er?" Tony asked, nodding at the beginnings of Jethro's boat.

Jethro looked at the boat thoughtfully. Then his eyes flickered to Jenny's picture. He imagined her winking at him and he knew that he didn't have to think about it. He smiled.

"Jenny."

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A/N: So… was it okay? Anything I need to edit/fix up? Thanks for reading! =D


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